


Blue skies from pain

by sableflynn



Category: Original Work
Genre: A good walk spoiled, Flashbacks, Non-Consensual Touching, Past Mind Control, Past Torture, Running into your old captor in public, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:40:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22406596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sableflynn/pseuds/sableflynn
Summary: Felicia and Elyse's trip to the market is interrupted when Felicia runs into Volkan.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Kudos: 3





	Blue skies from pain

Felicia breathed deep, taking in the bustling market around her—the scents of roasted nuts and fresh-cut flowers, the bright bolts of fabric and dull glint of brass pots, the sounds of the buskers and merchants and shoppers. _How long has it been since I last came to this market?_ She turned her face towards the sun, shutting her eyes and letting the warmth wash over her for a minute. _How long has it been since I’ve gone_ anywhere _?_

She held Elyse’s hand, their warm fingers entwined as they made their way through the narrow, crowded alleys of the market. This was _freedom_ , to be out in the world, surrounded by people and yet completely at ease. Overcome with joy, she pulled Elyse closer, wrapping an arm around her waist and planting a soft kiss on her cheek. A small part of Felicia thrilled at that, at how safe she felt with this casual intimacy. 

They paused at a stall overflowing with old books. Elyse’s eyes widened as she picked up a book and began flipping through, and for a moment, Felicia just wanted to _watch_ her. The gentle tumble of her dark, loose curls over her shoulder, the soft curve of her lips, the almost reverent way she turned the pages of the book. The minute changes in her facial expression as she read, brows furrowing slightly, eyes locked in concentration. She was so _beautiful_. 

But part of Felicia itched to explore more of the market. This was her first time visiting the city in, god, how many months had it been? The sounds and sights were pulling her in a million different directions; there was just _so much_ here for her. Not wanting to break Elyse’s concentration, she softly laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’m going to look around some more.” 

Elyse looked up, and Felicia caught the concern that flashed in her eyes before her expression smoothed over. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, no, keep looking around here.” She leaned forward and gave Elyse another quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll come find you in a little bit.” She gave Elyse’s hand a squeeze before breaking apart, continuing a meandering walk among the stalls.

The market came to life before her, each turn revealing new sights and sounds and smells. She trailed her hand along a display of dresses, fingers running over them, feather-light. _I could explore here forever._ She found a produce stall, the vegetables in jumbled rows of red and green and yellow, and started browsing for the night’s dinner.

“ _Felicia._ ”

A split second before she recognized the voice, before her brain could even process the word, her body _froze_. Her pulse racing, her breath tight in her chest, her muscles seizing in an automatic reaction.

_He’s here._

Hands pressed on her shoulders with a gentle firmness, and she allowed herself to be turned around. She slowly lifted her eyes to look up at Volkan.

He was smiling down at her as if he had just run into an old friend, his eyepatch glinting dully in the sunlight. She blinked, and for a moment she saw him as they had left him months ago, bleeding out on the floor of his own office. She blinked again and he was here, now, his hands still on her shoulders, still _touching_ her. 

She jerked back. Unperturbed, he returned his hand to her shoulder, his thumb lightly rubbing at the high neck of her sweater. “It’s awfully hot out to be wearing a top like this, don’t you think?” The autumn sun was warm on her skin, but Felicia only felt a chill as Volkan’s hand began to move. “Just what are you trying to hide?” His thumb slid down and pressed just below her collarbone, digging into the brand that they both knew hid beneath the sweater, his burning mark he had forced on her months ago, yesterday, a lifetime ago, every night in her nightmares. 

“ _Please,_ ” she whispered, her voice almost swallowed by the din of the market around them. “Please, don’t.” Part of her wondered why she reverted immediately to those pleas, when they had never, ever made a difference with him before.

His good eye lit up at that, and she suppressed a shiver as he leaned in closer, thumb still pressing against the brand mark. His face was inches from hers, and he whispered, “I love how easily you fall apart for me.” She wanted to pull away but his voice was in her head and he was still digging into the brand he had left on her, _reminding_ her that she was marked, that she would never be free of him, she could feel his hands all over her—

Abruptly, he straightened up, and his hands were off her. It wasn't any easier to breathe. “ _Relax,_ ” he said, but she could still feel where he had touched her moments before, now hot and overly sensitive, her body automatically bracing for more pain. His eyes watched her like a hawk. “I just want to talk.”

Through the fear, her anger flared. “I don’t want to _talk_ to you,” she spat, turning on her heels to walk away, forcing herself to show no sign of how completely _shattered_ she felt.

But he grabbed her arm as she walked away, and she froze immediately. “Don’t cause a scene,” he said, his voice steel. “With all these people around...you don’t want to ruin their nice day out, do you?” 

The market was full of people, and his threat was clear. _He wouldn’t...Even_ he _can’t get away with anything like that._ But she just couldn’t bring herself to call his bluff, and then his arm was around her shoulders once again and he was guiding her down the winding streets of the market.

They walked together in silence, his arm draped over her, thumb rubbing gently against her collarbone. She felt torn in two, anger and fear pushing and pulling within her. Her body was locked down, stuck in a freeze response, prepared to do anything he said to avoid the pain that it knew was imminent. But her mind was raging, telling her to run, to fight back, to do _something_ , how _dare_ he ruin this day, _I’m not_ his _, he can’t touch me._

“It really is a beautiful afternoon,” he said, and her mind _snapped_.

“What the _fuck_ do you want?” She hissed, trying to shrug out from under his arm. “Why are you even here, why the _fuck_ —”

“ _Felicia,_ ” he growled, and _there_ was that voice that made her heart freeze, made her breath catch in her throat, made her want to claw her own skin off. _God,_ she hated how her name sounded on his lips. “You are going to walk with me, and we are going to talk. Be _pleasant_.” 

Defeated, she allowed him to pull her closer as they continued to walk. “Then...just talk, already.” _This is how he takes me back. He’s just going to walk away with me in broad daylight, and I’m not going to do a thing to stop it._

“I’ve just missed having you around,” he sighed. “Although I will admit, I’m surprised to see you out at all. You came here alone?” She tensed at the question and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. _He can’t know Elyse is here. He can’t see her. I swear, if he even_ looks _at her, I’ll claw his other eye out._

If he thought she was lying, he didn’t press her on it. “That was incredibly foolish of you,” he said, and she felt icy dread claw up in her stomach. “Who knows what sorts of dangerous people you could run into out here? Oh, don’t worry,” he added, laughing at her terror. “I’m not going to do anything to you today. There’s too many people around.” He sighed theatrically. “I swear, once you’re in the public eye, you can’t do _anything_ without people noticing. The gossip rags will already have a field day just from seeing us walking together like this.” 

She swallowed down her disgust at that, the idea that he was parading her around like they were _lovers_. Instead, she steeled herself and turned to look at his face. “And what did all these ‘gossip rags’ make of...this?” Her hand slowly lifted to cover her left eye, mirroring his own eye covered with its patch.

He smiled at that, his own hand rising up to touch the patch. “Oh, it was a tragic accident, of course. Horseback riding can be very dangerous. And the papers _loved_ the whole ‘bad things happen to good people’ angle. _Beloved philanthropist sustains horrific injury in horseback accident_ , you get the idea.” Then his voice changed, and he leaned a little closer to her. “But that reminds me—how _is_ our mutual friend Marcus doing?”

Her stomach dropped. Earlier this week, she and Marcus had managed to sit in the same room and have breakfast together without either of them breaking down. She still felt that instinctive fear response for a split second every time she saw him, even as she hated herself for it. He still looked at her with such pure _heartbreak_ , before closing himself off once again. He still wouldn't acknowledge that he was also a victim in this. They still hadn’t even _talked_ about what happened.

She just wanted her _friend_ back.

“He’s fine,” she answered in a clipped tone.

“Is he?” Volkan sounded...genuinely _curious_. “You know, I’ve never seen what happens to someone when you take that control _off_ of them. Of course, that’s assuming you managed to take it off—maybe you all just decided to...leave him like that. Maybe you _like_ being the one in control for once—”

She wrenched herself from his grip, stopping in the street to glare at him. “I _said_ ,” she growled, “he’s _fine_.” She was shaking. _This is all just part of his...his fucked-up research into how to_ control _people, how to take their mind and body and make it_ his _._ She would _not_ give him that, could not let him take everything Marcus had been through and make it another data point while he worked out the best way to utterly ruin a person.

But he was bearing down on her and it took all her self-control to not immediately wither under the quiet fury in his eye. “If you don’t want to talk about it,” he said slowly, deliberately, “then I’ll just come visit him and see for myself.”

“You can’t.” She didn’t believe the words even as she said them.

“I _will_.” He took her chin in his hand and tilted her head up with deceptive gentleness at odds with the hunger in his expression. “You should know better than anyone that I can take whatever I want.” 

Felicia felt her surroundings slipping away, and then her entire world was his hand on her chin, his eye on her face, his slowly curving smile. She was in his mansion again, on her knees in front of him, his hands all over her, his knife kissing her skin again and again. She had never really left, and now she was going to die here, he was going to kill her—

“ _Felicia!_ ”

Elyse’s voice cut through the storm of her mind, and she gasped for air like a drowning person pulled from the water. A warm hand was in her own, gently pulling her back, and Felicia clung to it like a rock among the crashing waves. 

“Miss Katal,” Volkan said with a warm smile, “so lovely to see you.”

Felicia’s eyes snapped between Elyse’s cold glare and Volkan’s broadening smile. _No. They can’t be here together._ He was going to hurt her. That was what he did, and now he had Elyse and was going to hurt her, and he would make Felicia watch. This wasn’t right. Her mouth started moving of its own accord, her voice a whisper. “No, no, please no, don’t, _please_ —”

“I’m here, Felicia.” Elyse hadn’t moved her eyes from Volkan’s, but her voice was gentle. “I have you.” She squeezed Felicia’s hand rhythmically, in time with her heartbeats, and Felicia slowly felt herself return to solid ground.

Volkan was _laughing_. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle her.” He ran a hand through his hair, an act of affected self-consciousness. “It’s just delightful to see so many familiar faces here today...the market really does bring people together.” 

For a moment, Elyse said nothing. Her face was still, but Felicia could feel the tension in the hand holding hers. Then: “What do you _want_ from us?”

“Like I told Felicia,” he said, his face still shining with mirth, “I just wanted to talk. And we did have an _enthralling_ conversation.” Then he took a step back, tilting his head to each of them in turn. “I really should be going, but it was wonderful to see you both. Send my regards to the rest of your team, would you?” His smile turned predatory. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing them all soon.” He turned and vanished into the crowd, and Felicia let out her breath in a quiet sob.


End file.
